San Patricio County flooding

CALLER-TIMES FILE Floodwater surrounds the San Patricio County Courthouse in Sinton after Hurricane Fern on Sept. 13, 1971. Recent floods in Gregory underscored that drainage and flood projects remain to be done in the low-lying county.

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RACHEL DENNY CLOW/CALLER-TIMES FILE A child watches floodwater surrounding a truck on the U.S. Highway 181 access road near Gregory on April 16. Residents are questioning the citys flood and drainage control infrastructure after the recent rains inundated at least 70 homes.

Corpus Christi Caller-Times

CALLER-TIMES FILE Sinton flooded Oct. 17, 1960. Recent floods in Gregory underscored that drainage and flood projects remain to be done in the low-lying county. An examination of this countys on-again, off-again war on water for the last century shows that a combination of immediate drainage improvements and forward planning can yield permanent results for Gregory, despite the seemingly insurmountable costs and logistics of flood and drainage control for tiny towns with meager tax bases.

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CALLER-TIMES File The corner of Avenue A and Seventh Street in Gregory is under water during a flood in 1980. Recent floods in Gregory underscored that drainage and flood projects remain to be done in the low-lying county. Successes in towns such as Odem and Sinton show that it will take money, political will, partnerships between agencies, maybe industries and time before Gregory can realize meaningful results.

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TODD YATES/CALLER-TIMES FILE Debris floats through a Gregory street April 16. Residents are questioning the citys flood and drainage control infrastructure after the recent rains inundated at least 70 homes.

Corpus Christi Caller-Times

CALLER-TIMES FILE A flood ruined fields near Taft in 1980. Recent floods in Gregory underscored that drainage and flood projects remain to be done in the low-lying county. The trick, engineers say, is getting people to talk about drainage and flood control, and to back up the talk with action  even when its not raining.

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CALLER-TIMES FILE Taft is under water after Hurricane Fern on Sept. 13, 1971. Recent floods in Gregory underscored that drainage and flood projects remain to be done in the low-lying county. Gregory lies at the bottom of a saucer-shaped terrain. Most of its homes are about 30 feet above sea level, while surrounding areas rise to as high as 40 feet around Portland.

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CALLER-TIMES FILE West Market Street in Sinton is flooded April 10, 1985. Recent floods in Gregory underscored that drainage and flood projects remain to be done in the low-lying county. Lowering a dam near NorthShore Country Club in Portland could help but would require making up for the clubs loss of the water, which it owns under a state permit.

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TODD YATES/CALLER-TIMES FILE Streets in Gregory start to flood April 16. Residents are questioning the citys flood and drainage control infrastructure after the recent rains inundated at least 70 homes.

Corpus Christi Caller-Times

CALLER-TIMES FILE Sinton flooded Oct. 16, 1960. Recent floods in Gregory underscored that drainage and flood projects remain to be done in the low-lying county. In 1971, voters approved a new drainage district, but it raises only enough funds to handle ongoing maintenance and is ill equipped to take on major projects without additional funding.

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TODD YATES/CALLER-TIMES FILE Streets in Gregory start to flood April 16. Residents are questioning the citys flood and drainage control infrastructure after the recent rains inundated at least 70 homes.

Corpus Christi Caller-Times

TODD YATES/CALLER-TIMES FILE Gregory residents walk through a flooded street April 16. Residents are questioning the citys flood and drainage control infrastructure after the recent rains inundated at least 70 homes.

Corpus Christi Caller-Times

TODD YATES/CALLER-TIMES FILE Abel Peña paddles his kayak through the flooded streets of Gregory April 16. Residents are questioning the citys flood and drainage control infrastructure after the recent rains inundated at least 70 homes.

Corpus Christi Caller-Times

CALLER-TIMES FILE A flood encroaches on a gas station north of Sinton Oct. 23, 1983. More floods in 1984 and 1985 would prompt calls for a bond election to pay for flood control projects, but the measure never made it to the ballot.

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CALLER-TIMES FILE Odem is flooded April 11, 1985. Recent floods in Gregory underscored that drainage and flood projects remain to be done in the low-lying county. While no drainage system can prevent some degree of flooding in a 15-inch rain, like the one that fell April 16 in Gregory, Sinton and Odem have shown that substantial changes can be made by seizing opportunities as they come.

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CALLER-TIMES FILE Sinton is under water after Hurricane Fern on Sept. 13, 1971. Recent floods in Gregory underscored that drainage and flood projects remain to be done in the low-lying county. Any major project would likely involve some combination of grants, government partnerships, industrial participation or even bond elections.

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CALLER-TIMES FILE Mutchler (left) and Albert Brothers try to unclog a ditch along U.S. Highway 181 between Gregory and Sinton to help drain newly planted cotton fields April 12, 1985. They lost 400 acres of cotton in the flood that year. Foods have long plagued the low-lying region, and residents are again calling for new drainage and flood control projects.

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CALLER-TIMES FILE Homes flooded in Sinton after Hurricane Fern on Sept. 13, 1971. Recent floods in Gregory underscored that drainage and flood projects remain to be done in the low-lying county. The drainage district levies enough taxes to help with immediate needs after the April flood, such as cleaning out neglected culverts and digging out ditches that have silted in. But funding for long-term projects remains elusive.